This article appeared in a journal published by Elsevier. The attached copy is furnished to the author for internal non-commercial research and education use, including for instruction at the authors institution and sharing with colleagues. Other uses, including reproduction and distribution, or selling or licensing copies, or posting to personal, institutional or third party websites are prohibited. In most cases authors are permitted to post their version of the article (e.g. in Word or Tex form) to their personal website or institutional repository. Authors requiring further information regarding Elsevier’s archiving and manuscript policies are encouraged to visit: http://www.elsevier.com/copyright  Author's personal copy Fisheries Research 96 (2009) 167–172 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Fisheries Research journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/fishres When trash fish is treasure: The case of Ghana in West Africa F.K.E. Nunoo a,∗ , Josephine O. Boateng a , Angela M. Ahulu a , Kwame A. Agyekum a , Ussif Rashid Sumaila b a Department of Oceanography & Fisheries, University of Ghana, P.O. Box LG 99, Legon, Accra, Ghana b Fisheries Economics Research Unit, Fisheries Centre, University of British Columbia, 2259 Lower Mall, Vancouver, BC, Canada V6T IZ4 a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t Article history: The term ‘trash’ fish has been used to denote fish, usually non-targeted, that are caught as by-catch, and Received 13 June 2007 normally command no price in the market. Ecologists have long objected to this notion because in the Received in revised form 23 October 2008 natural system no creature is trash, they argued. In this paper, we demonstrate that even from the economic Accepted 27 October 2008 perspective, the term ‘trash’ fish is problematic, as what is considered trash in a given place and/or time may actually be treasure in another place and/or time. We demonstrate this in the case of Ghana. The Keywords: current paper describes the organization of the trash fish business in Ghana, and the composition of By-catch marketed trash fish. It also determines the effects of the trash fish business on fish stocks and fishers’ life, Discards Trash fish as well as suggests possible management interventions to ensure sustainable fish exploitation. Fisheries management Crown Copyright © 2008 Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. Juveniles Ghana 1. Introduction that observed reduction in reported by-catch and increased utili- sation of by-catch is likely to be a worldwide trend and not that of The overcapitalization of fisheries due to the commissioning Asia alone. Evidence is provided to show how perceived unwanted of highly efficient vessels and the degradation of aquatic habitats fish could become treasure for humans, especially, in developing from pollution has increased catches of non-targeted fishes and countries with known food security and nutritional problems. the resultant practice of discarding large quantities of catch has In Ghana, an important fishing nation in West Africa (Atta-Mills contributed in no small measure to the gradual depletion of fish et al., 2004), the total marine fish landings have been fluctuating. stocks. Generally, the total catch for the country shows a decreasing trend Although Alverson et al. (1994) provisionally estimated global since 1996 (Koranteng and Pauly, 2004). Both Nunoo and Evans discards in commercial fisheries to be 27 million metric tonnes per (1997) and Nunoo (1998) observed discarding of catch by indus- annum, FAO’s 1998 state of the world fisheries and aquaculture trial shrimpers in the coastal waters of Ghana. Discards were in provided a revised estimate of 20 million tonnes (Kelleher, 2005). large quantity, with varying number of species relative to targeted Management strategies adopted globally to decrease the incidence species. Much of the composition of the discards were juveniles, of discards in trawl fisheries include effort-based measures (reduc- and those that cannot be marketed because they are not consid- ing days at sea and decommissioning), area closures and technical ered edible or a delicacy or had been disfigured through poor measures such as using selective gears and reduction of cod-end handling had no market value (this fish is termed trash fish). In mesh size. These strategies have not achieved significant successes Nigeria, the supposed trash fish of commercial operators is gath- due mainly to problems of enforcement and inadequacy of technical ered by government designated ‘collector vessels’ for sale in the guidance. However, the substantial reduction in estimated global markets. discards in recent years has mainly been attributed to reduction in Similarly, discards are not considered to be trash fish in Ghana unwanted by-catch and greater utilisation of by-catch in Asia for but handled differently from that in Nigeria. Trash fish is trans- aquaculture and human consumption. It is the view of this paper formed into a tradable commodity, which brings high returns to operators of industrial trawlers, pair trawlers, shrimpers, inshore vessels and artisanal fishers operating in Ghana’s waters. The oper- ation of trash fish business is centered mainly in three fish landing ∗ Corresponding author. Tel.: +233 20 8474852; fax: +233 21 502701. beaches, namely, Elmina, Apam and Tema, in order of importance. E-mail addresses: fkenunoo@ug.edu.gh, fkenunoo@hotmail.com (F.K.E. Nunoo). It has become the preferred trade among fishers in these towns 0165-7836/$ – see front matter. Crown Copyright © 2008 Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.fishres.2008.10.010  Author's personal copy 168 F.K.E. Nunoo et al. / Fisheries Research 96 (2009) 167–172 and their environs since it is perceived to be more lucrative than ment interventions towards sustainable exploitation of the fish the ‘seek and capture’ fishing practiced by artisanal fishers. Indus- resource. trial trawl vessels fishing the high seas transfer catches that are not targeted to small canoes at sea for a fee or barter for subsequent 2. Background onward sale on land. The precision with which these foreign vessels encounter artisanal fishers in space and time has been enhanced 2.1. Description of the fisheries activities at the two beaches through the growing use of mobile phones and other navigational gadgets. This study was conducted at the two main fish landing beaches This trade among operators of large vessels and artisanal fishers, in the Central Region of Ghana, West Africa (Fig. 1). Elmina is cap- at least, avoids wastage of fish by-catch. Fish is made much more ital of the Komenda–Edina–Eguafo–Abirem district while Apam is available to help improve the food security and nutritional status of the district capital of Gomoa. According to the housing and popu- the people, especially those in inland areas. However, there is the lation census 2000, Elmina has a population of 21,103 (9960 males fear that if the trash fish trade continues, Ghana’s long-standing and 11,143 females) and Apam has a population of 16,494 (7308 traditional fishing vocation, where it is ranked among the best in males and 9186 females) (Ghana Statistical Service, 2002). Elmina West Africa (Atta-Mills et al., 2004) may be lost. Also, the prolif- is historically known as a major trading site during colonial days. eration of discards on the market has the tendency to encourage Elmina beach is the larger of the two, in terms of size of beach offshore vessels to fish much closer to shore and also to use small area, number of vessels, number of fishers and quality of fisheries mesh sizes rendered illegal by the fisheries law of 2002, Act 625. support services such as boat building and mechanic workshop, The continuation of trash fish trade puts more pressure on Ghana’s and has recently been designated by the Ministry of Fisheries for depleting fish stocks, a situation that may push the already over- dredging and re-designing into a modern fish landing beach. For fished stocks towards collapse. In this trade, subsidies on fuel for instance, while there were 2632 fishermen and 77 purse seine nets artisanal fisheries which is expected to be used for legal fishing at Elmina, there were only 1005 fishermen and 29 purse seine nets activities is channeled into trans-shipment of catch at sea, bring- at Apam in 2004 (Amador et al., 2006). ing losses to the country. It is to be noted that the Fisheries Law of Semi-industrial (inshore) and artisanal marine fishing occurs at 2002, Act 625, prohibits trans-shipment of catch at sea in Ghana both fish landing sites. While the semi-industrial fishers use locally and therefore makes the trade illegal. built wooden-hulled crafts with in-board engines, the artisanal In addition to show how perceived trash fish could be treasure, fishers use wooden dug-out canoes which may be either motor- this paper describes the organization of the trash fish business in ized or non-motorized. More than half of these canoes are known Ghana, composition of trash fish, evaluates effects of the business to be motorized using either 25 or 40 Hp outboard engines. The on fish stocks and fishers’ life, and suggest possible manage- semi-industrial fishers mainly use trawling gear to target demer- Fig. 1. Map of Ghana showing location of study sites, Elmina and Apam.  Author's personal copy F.K.E. Nunoo et al. / Fisheries Research 96 (2009) 167–172 169 sal fishes like the seabreams and groupers; and the locally known purse seine gear, ‘Ali-Poli-Watsa’ (APW), which captures, among others, the small pelagic mackerels and sardines. Gears used by artisanal fishers include various designs of gillnet for small and medium sized pelagic fish, drift gill net (DGN) for catching large pelagic fishes such as tunas, dolphins, sharks, sailfish, swordfish and marlins; set nets for invertebrate species including crabs and lob- sters, hook and line, APW and beach seine gear for both demersals and pelagics such as croakers, sardines and jacks. In Ghana, demand for fish as a source of food, nutrition, raw material for the poultry industry and income, among others, far exceeds supply (Directorate of Fisheries, 2003). Marine fishing is generally seasonal, following closely the major (June to October; bumper season) and minor (December to January; lean season) Fig. 2. Dominant ‘trash fish’ species composition at Elmina. upwelling periods in the Gulf of Guinea. Though fishers prefer to fish round the clock, fishing is largely dependent on weather, past 3.2. Laboratory work and data analyses catch history and availability of fishing inputs such as premix fuel for outboard engines. Tuesdays are, however, observed as a tradi- In the laboratory, the fishes were sorted into the various tional no fishing day in the Elmina and Apam communities; and species for each site, with the various species counted, the total enforced by traditional authorities and community based fisheries number of each individual species was also counted, dominant management committees (CBFMC) at both fish landing sites. At families recorded, as well as the mean standard lengths and both Elmina and Apam, women saw to processing and marketing wet body weights measured using fish measuring board and though there is an increasing trend of women financing male fishers an electronic balance, respectively. The species composition by in their business (Walker, 2002). weight was subsequently calculated. The species diversity using the Shannon–Wiener diversity index was analysed using PRIMER computer software (PRIMER, 2000). 3. Methodology 4. Results 3.1. Field work 4.1. Biological data On the 8th and 26th of February 2006, a designed questionnaire targeting fishers directly involved in the trash fish trade was admin- The trash fish at both fish landing sites consisted of a num- istered at the Elmina and Apam landing beaches, respectively. There ber of known important commercial species such as Bluespotted were a total of 60 respondents, 30 from each site. The questionnaire seabream Pagrus caeruleostictus, Congo dentex Dentex congoensis, was used to elicit information from artisanal fishers about the oper- Guinean tonguesole Cynoglossus monodi, and Round sardinella Sar- ations of trash fish business at Elmina and Apam. Information on dinella aurita; and the others that are normally less marketable the composition of trash fish in terms of species richness was also including Leatherjacket Monacanthus setifer and Bluntnose lizard- sought in the questionnaire. Mainly close-ended questions were fish Trachinocephalus myops (Tables 1 and 2). The fish sample from verbally read to randomly selected fishers at the landing beaches Elmina recorded a total number of 158 individuals comprising of in English and, when necessary, translated into a local language that 15 species belonging to 13 taxonomic fish families (Table 1 and both the interviewer and respondent could understand (e.g., Ga and Fig. 2). The Bluntnose lizardfish, T. myops contributed about 32% by Fante). Records were made of spoken responses, including further weight of the total trash fish sampled. The dominant fish family was explanations that helped to clarify certain issues or provided addi- Soleidae made up of three different fish species, namely, Ocellated tional information on the so-called trash fish. In order to determine wedge sole Dicologoglossa hexophthalma, Sand sole Pegusa lascaris species composition of catch, one frozen pack (called locally a slab) and Wedge sole Dicologoglossa cuneata making up a total of about of commercial trash fish, weighing about 20 kg, was bought at each 28% of the sample. The mean sizes of fish were small and ranged of the two sites for subsequent laboratory analyses. between 10 cm and 21.65 cm standard length. Of particular mention Table 1 Biological data of trash fish at Elmina fish landing beach (n = 158). Common name Scientific name Family Mean SL (±/cm) Mean weight (g) % Composition of species Leatherjacket Monacanthus setifer Monacanthidae 19.00 100.00 0.63 Atlantic bigeye Priacanthus arenatus Priacanthidae 18.90 166.70 6.33 Blue spotted seabream Pagrus caeruleostictus Sparidae 13.50 85.00 1.27 Atlantic Bumper Chloroscombrus chrysurus Carangidae 15.60 57.50 2.53 Flying gurnard Dactylopterus volitans Dactylopteridae 21.65 200.00 5.06 Bluntnose lizard fish Trachinocephalus myops Synodontidae 17.50 88.30 31.65 Lusitarian toadfish Halobatrachus didactylus Batrachoididae 15.90 238.00 4.43 Ocellated wedge sole Dicologoglossa hexophthalma Soleidae 15.30 95.00 1.27 Pearly razorfish Xyricthys novacula Labridae 13.30 64.70 12.66 Puffer fish Lagocephalus laevigatus Tetraodontidae 20.80 380.00 2.53 Red mullet Pseudoperus prayensis Mullidae 12.72 86.70 2.53 Round sardine Sardinella aurita Clupeidae 13.60 50.00 1.27 Sand sole Pegusa lascaris Soleidae 20.23 190.00 1.90 Wedge sole Dicologoglossa cuneata Soleidae 13.00 37.50 25.32 Wide-eyed flounder Bothus podas africanus Bothidae 10.00 30.00 0.63  Author's personal copy 170 F.K.E. Nunoo et al. / Fisheries Research 96 (2009) 167–172 Table 2 Biological data of trash fish at Apam fish landing beach (n = 127). Common name Scientific name Family Mean SL(±/cm) Mean weight (g) % Composition of species by weight Round scad Decapterus punctatus Carangidae 15.77 34.78 52.76 Red mullet Pseudoperus prayensis Mullidae 13.50 39.65 2.36 Canary tonguesole Cynoglossus canariensis Cynoglossidae 13.10 37.10 0.79 Bigeye grunt Brachydeuterus auritus Haemulidae 12.78 28.72 9.45 Flying gurnard Dactylopterus volitans Dactylopteridae 22.55 122.24 3.15 Brown ray Raja miraletus Rajidae 38.07 283.33 2.36 Congo dentex Dentex congoensis Sparidae 14.54 34.50 24.41 Guineaen tonnegue sole Cynoglossus monodi Cynoglossidae 16.25 44.94 3.15 Leather jacket Monacanthus setifer Monacanthidae 23.00 350.00 0.79 Bluntnose lizard fish Trachinocephalus myops Synodontidae 24.30 13.38 0.79 is the fish, Pearly razorfish Xyricthys novacula, which is a popular amounts ranging between 600 slabs (12,000 kg) and 1200 slabs ornamental fish that prominently features in the export trade in (24,000 kg) (per trip while the fishmongers (women) buy in small Ghana. amounts 20–50 slabs (400–1000 kg) at the shore with the medium Trash fish sample at Apam fish landing beach recorded a total of exchange being cash and/or food. of 127 individuals made up of ten species belonging to seven tax- onomic fish families (Table 2 and Fig. 3). The size range of fish 4.2.2. Marketing samples was 12.78–38.07 cm. The Brown ray, Raja miraletus, though Marketing of the trash fish is made easy as there is ready mar- the biggest, contributed only about 2% by weight of the total ‘trash’ ket always. The customers vary from wholesale fishmongers, fish fish sample at Apam. Round scad Decapterus punctatus, with mean processors, retailers, poultry and livestock farmers, industrial users standard length of 15.77 cm contributed about 53% by weight of and individual consumers. The buyers are predominantly from the total fish sample. The dominant fish family by number was cities and towns that are 200–350 km inland of the coast such as Cynoglossidae which was made up of Canary tongue sole Cynoglos- Kumasi, Obuasi and Tarkwa. These customers buy in bulk from the sus canariensis and Guinean tonguesole C. monodi but together fishermen directly. Some young men (carriers) who will normally contributed less than 5% by weight of the total sample. The fish have been unemployed take advantage of the trash fish business families Sparidae and Carangidae dominated by weight. to make money by carrying the slabs/crates of fish in exchange of Comparing the two sites, Elmina recorded the most num- fish which they eventually sell to market women or individual con- ber of individuals in the sample and was highly diverse with a sumers. These men sometimes lose money in the trade because Shannon–Wiener’s diversity index of 0.88 and Margalef’s species either the fish thaws and goes bad or the market women dictate richness value of 2.77 as compared to Apam which had a diversity their own price, which is often too low compared to existing market index of 0.61 and species richness value of 1.86. There was sig- value. nificant difference in species diversity (ANOVA, df = 1, F = 0.4088, p < 0.05) between the two sites. 4.3. Management of fish resource and trash fish business 4.2. Questionnaire analyses Management of fisheries at the two fish landing beaches becomes difficult, breeding conflict among different fishery oper- 4.2.1. Business and social organization ators because fishers are unaware of the illegality of the trash The trash business appears to be very intense at Elmina com- fish business. The people involved in the business seemingly pared to Apam. The business is very well organized with the operate freely without much regard for local of formal fisheries participation of both operators and workers on trawlers; as well as authorities. This is manifested in the questionnaire response as artisanal fishers. There are both males and females involved, with 95% of respondents confirmed that the catch of trash fish was the male population dominating at both sites (Table 3). There are not recorded by Fisheries officers at the landing beaches. Ortho- fishermen who go to sea to meet the trawlers for the trash fish. dox fishermen blame the observed decline in Ghana’s fisheries These fishermen do not go with fishing nets because they go pur- resource to the operators of trash fish business and other activi- posely to collect fish that has been stored. All they need is enough ties of trawl vessels. This is because the trawlers sometimes fish fuel to take them from and to shore. Sometimes they are restrained in the nearshore waters, sometimes with a view to reaching their because of the trawlers being far off the continental shelf. The peo- trash fish clients, even though these areas are designated for ple involved in the business communicate on mobile phones with canoe fishermen under the Fisheries law 2002, Act 625. There is their representatives who are based at Tema to tell them where they can locate a potential trawler. The male fishermen buy in bulk Table 3 Summary of questionnaire response. Characteristics Elmina Apam Gender (% male:female) 58:42 68:32 Age range (% 20–40 years) 72 75 Education (% literate:illiterate) 27:73 13:87 Marital status (% married) 65 73 Number of years in trash business 62:7 35:12 (% 5–20 years:>20years) Medium of exchange (% cash:food) 55:25 65:20 Price per slab (Ghana cedi) 2–5 2–5 Cost per slab 5–9 5–9 Profitability Moderate to high Moderate to high Fig. 3. Dominant ‘trash fish’ species composition at Apam. Note: US $ = 1 Ghana cedi.  Author's personal copy F.K.E. Nunoo et al. / Fisheries Research 96 (2009) 167–172 171 great competition for fishing space in which the canoe fishermen Illegal fishing activities such as this could potentially compro- normally lose out because they are unable to compete with the mise the implementation of management strategies and can in sophisticated machinery and relatively bigger trawlers. Therefore extreme cases, undermine the rational exploitation of the resource. some artisanal and inshore vessels have resorted to other harmful Enforcing a ban on trans-shipments at sea or placing inspectors practices such as the use of light and dynamite for fishing to increase at the present trash fish landing sites in the country are possi- catch. ble management options whose implementation would be limited by logistics as well as political will. Currently, there are general attempts by the government to regulate the operation of fishing 5. Discussion and conclusion vessels in Ghanaian waters. A vessel monitoring system (VMS) was commissioned in November 2005 to help monitor and con- This study has shown how what is considered trash fish to indus- trol fishing. According to a report from the Ministry of Fisheries, trial trawlers becomes an important food and economic resource 70 Industrial fishing vessels have been fitted with vessel tracking to artisanal fishers and many people in both the coastal and inland devices to ensure the monitoring of their operations at sea by 2006. areas of Ghana. Wide marketing of this cheap trash fish to inland It is expected that all the remaining vessels will be fitted with the areas of the nation makes fish much more available thereby con- device and efficient measures instituted to ensure compliance in tributing to increasing per capita consumption of fish in Ghana. It is the next few years. therefore a potential contributor to the improvement in nutritional With increasing uncertainty in the capture and availability and health status of Ghanaians. To further strengthen this poten- of fish all year round in local communities in Ghana, sale and tial, an initiative for effective utilisation of trash fish is needed to utilisation of trash fish provides a strategy to combat hunger, develop useful food products. Five types of products such as fish inadequate nutrition, poverty and a guarantee for improved liveli- powder, fish burgers, fish fingers, fish balls, and minced blocks can hoods. However, the sizeable number of species exploited and be prepared from some of these so-called trash fishes. For instance, the observed high pressure on fish stocks provides enough con- Chattopadhyary et al. (2004) have perfected a simple process that cern to both scientists and managers to contribute to instituting converts small bony fish to nutritionally rich edible fish powder pragmatic and dynamic measures and policies to control this without deboning the fish. Further, the trash fish can be harnessed growing business. It is expected that such control of the trash locally as feed to help boost the poultry industry. The Ministry of fish trade will include adequate scientific collection of data on Fisheries’s drive to promote aquaculture in Ghana could also bene- trash fish and discards that would contribute to efficient estima- fit from carefully utilising trash fish in the industrial production of tion of Ghana’s contribution to global estimation of by-catch and fish feed. discards. The business of trash fish has led to socio-economic improve- ments in the quality of life of fishers over and above previous levels Acknowledgements where, e.g., they could not afford mobile phones. Now mobile phone availability and the general telephone communication boom in the The authors express their appreciation to Prof. Irene Odotei of country have not only improved trash fish business but improved the University of Ghana, for comments on earlier draft of question- the traditional fishing business and standards of living in fishing naire; as well as staff and students of Department of Oceanography communities. The mobile phone is gradually being accepted as a & Fisheries, University of Ghana, for help in questionnaire adminis- tool in the fishing business. For instance, the proliferation of mobile tration. We extend our gratitude to the fishers of Elmina and Apam phones has aided fishermen in periods of bumper catch to avoid for willingly and enthusiastically sharing their knowledge on the dumping of fish at sea given the inadequacy of cold stores but rather trash fish trade. communicate with agents and customers elsewhere in advance to determine markets for fish catch (Abissath, 2005). However, these potential gains due to the business should be References weighed against the potential ecological cost to the marine ecosys- Abissath, M.K., 2005, December 12. Mobile phone: a tool for modern fishermen in tem as well as the potential loss of skill by artisanal fishers in the Ghana. Daily Graphic, p. 10. long term. Through this trade, fishing pressure could be extended Alverson, D.L., Murawski, S.A., Pope, J.G., 1994. A global assessment of fisheries to previously unexploited species in order to reduce pressure on bycatch and discards. FAO fisheries Technical Paper No. 339. FAO, Rome. 233 earlier known species. It is also a fact that the trash fish business pp. Amador, K., Bannerman, P., Quartey, R., Ashong, R., 2006. Ghana canoe frame survey which has led to the conversion of canoes to make space for huge 2004. Inform. Report Number 34, 43 pp. quantities of fish as well as sale of fishing gear could over years lead Atta-Mills, A.J.J., Sumaila, U.R., 2004. The decline of a regional fishing nation: the to loss of valuable fishing skill by fishers. case of Ghana and West Africa. Natural Res. Forum 28, 13–21. Chattopadhyary, A.K., Rao, B.M., Gupta, S., 2004. A simple process for the utilization The trash fish trade in Ghana is a unique example of co-operation of small bony fish as edible fish powder. Fish. Technol. Soc. Fish. Technol. (India) between industrial and artisanal fisheries. This is contrary to known 41, 117–120. reports worldwide of conflicts between industrial and artisanal Directorate of Fisheries, 2003. Ghana: post-harvest fisheries overview. Directorate of Fisheries, Ministry of Food & Agriculture, Ghana. 70 pp. fishers. A similar situation is recorded in the Nigerian shrimp FAO, 2000. Report of the four GEF/UNEP/FAO regional workshops on reducing the trawl fisheries where the capture of juvenile fishes is, practically, impact of tropical shrimp trawl fisheries. FAO Fisheries Report 627. FIIT/R627. 40 encouraged by the high demand for fish by-catch by the collec- pp. Flewwelling, P., 1994. An introduction to MCS systems for capture fisheries. FAO tor vessels (FAO, 2000). The socio-economic forces behind this Fisheries Technical Paper 338, Rome. 217 pp. practice are obviously so strong that it will require major multi- Ghana Statistical Service, 2002. 2000 Population and housing census. Special report faceted incentives to change practices. Higher wages for trawler on 20 largest localities. Ghana Statistical Service, 79 pp. Kelleher, K., 2005. Discards in the world’s marine fisheries. An update. 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